- 206
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- Location
- Wilsonville, Oregon
Hello,
Over the weekend I was at the Oregon Steam Up in Brooks, Or. (About 30 miles South of Portland). They have all sorts of steam powered vehicles on display and running. They honor Veterans so we bring some MV's down to display and run in the parade. I fired off some blanks in my M3A1 Stuart tank to start the parade. Link to videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b05ZPzD66SM (It takes about 45 secs. to get going).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b05ZPzD66SM
After the parade while I was cleaning my barrel an elderly man watched me for a while and then he said, "We left one of those Stuart tanks in about 20 feet of water off the beach of Tarawa in 1943". He went on to say, "It was an early M3 Stuart with a 9 cylinder Guiberson diesel radial engine". I said really? He said the ramp got blown off the LST they were on and the tank went with it. No one was in the tank at the time. He introduced himself to me. His name is George Watson, a 92 year old USMC Veteran. 2nd Marine Div. , 2nd Tank Battalion. He was a Lt. and a tank commander. He went on to tell me about the time he was driving down a captured runway on Tarawa and the ran into a bomb crater and luckily there were a few other tanks there to pull them out. He was on Tinian, Siapan and Okinawa too. I then asked him if he would like to go for a ride on my tank. You should have see the big smile on his face! He replied, "REALLY"? I said yes sir, just let me finish cleaning the barrel and we will go. A few minutes later George climbed up on the tank (with just a little help) and off we went. A local club member got up on the tank with him just in case he needed any help. We went around the parade route. When we got back George couldn't thank me enough and said he had no idea he would take a ride on a Stuart tank today! "The last time I was on a M3A1 Stuart tank was in 1944"! I told Geogre that it was an honor for me to be able to take him for a tank ride. Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EChrIgiLQs
Enjoy,
Steve
Over the weekend I was at the Oregon Steam Up in Brooks, Or. (About 30 miles South of Portland). They have all sorts of steam powered vehicles on display and running. They honor Veterans so we bring some MV's down to display and run in the parade. I fired off some blanks in my M3A1 Stuart tank to start the parade. Link to videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b05ZPzD66SM (It takes about 45 secs. to get going).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b05ZPzD66SM
After the parade while I was cleaning my barrel an elderly man watched me for a while and then he said, "We left one of those Stuart tanks in about 20 feet of water off the beach of Tarawa in 1943". He went on to say, "It was an early M3 Stuart with a 9 cylinder Guiberson diesel radial engine". I said really? He said the ramp got blown off the LST they were on and the tank went with it. No one was in the tank at the time. He introduced himself to me. His name is George Watson, a 92 year old USMC Veteran. 2nd Marine Div. , 2nd Tank Battalion. He was a Lt. and a tank commander. He went on to tell me about the time he was driving down a captured runway on Tarawa and the ran into a bomb crater and luckily there were a few other tanks there to pull them out. He was on Tinian, Siapan and Okinawa too. I then asked him if he would like to go for a ride on my tank. You should have see the big smile on his face! He replied, "REALLY"? I said yes sir, just let me finish cleaning the barrel and we will go. A few minutes later George climbed up on the tank (with just a little help) and off we went. A local club member got up on the tank with him just in case he needed any help. We went around the parade route. When we got back George couldn't thank me enough and said he had no idea he would take a ride on a Stuart tank today! "The last time I was on a M3A1 Stuart tank was in 1944"! I told Geogre that it was an honor for me to be able to take him for a tank ride. Link to video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2EChrIgiLQs
Enjoy,
Steve
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Your taking the Lt for a ride probably made way more then two people's days.... You helped reconnect the Lt. with the history he made....